Atrocities Committed in the No. 2 Women's Ward of the Masanjia Forced Labour Camp

A sign on the courtyard wall of the No. 2 Women's Ward of the Masanjia Forced Labour Camp reads: "Liaoning Province Mental Education Centre." Since the day the Women's Ward was established, its staff has persecuted Falun Gong practitioners physically and mentally. Under the direct command of Jiang Zemin's followers, the No. 2 Women's Ward of Masanjia Forced Labour Camp recklessly ignores the constitutional rights of China's citizens. It violates human rights, forbids people to believe in the principles of "Truthfulness, Compassion, Forbearance," deprives people of their right to think for themselves, destroys people's free will, and physically and mentally tortures them. Many practitioners have suffered mental breakdowns and have been injured, disabled and some have even lost their lives because of the brutal persecution suffered at Masanjia Forced Labour Camp.

1. The Construction of the No. 2 Women's Ward of Masanjia Forced Labour Camp

The No. 2 Women's Ward at Masanjia Forced Labour Camp was established after Jiang's regime initiated the persecution of Falun Gong on July 20, 1999. This four-story-high building is only used to detain Falun Gong practitioners. More than one thousand practitioners have been detained and brutally persecuted there. It is rumoured that the eldest practitioner is Wang Chunying, a 72-year-old retired teacher from Liaoning Teachers College in Dalian. There are also many elderly women over 60 years old as well as some under 20 years of age. This ward was most crowded between 2001 and 2002. There were 960 beds, with three people assigned to two beds, and more than 1,500 women incarcerated. In 2002, there were more than 1,300 detainees. There are still several hundred practitioners in this facility.

The No. 2 Women's Ward is divided into 4 brigades and 18 subgroups. Each cell has 60 beds. The practitioners sent to this unit are persecuted inhumanly and are forced to do hard labour.

There are 16 cells on every floor. Every cell is little more than 20 square meters and holds 20 beds. They are all bunk beds, with the two next to the doorway standing alone and the rest placed two by two. When there were many people, three people had to sleep in two beds, so 20 beds could accommodate 28 people.

Every cell has two windows with black metal bars facing the outside, and one corridor door with two small windows. Each subgroup has four people on duty at any one time and two people per 12-hour shift. They can stand or sit in the corridor, supervise the practitioners from the small windows, forbid practitioners from talking, standing, closing their eyes, and looking through the window to the outside. Everyone in the cell sits on a plastic stool, which they had to purchase. The detainees normally work in the walkways between the beds, placing cardboard on the plastic stools to work on. Except for harvesting corn twice in the fall and tree planting in the spring, the practitioners generally work indoors. Most of the work entails dying plastics and plaster with different colours, folding paper, and so on. The fumes are toxic and are very irritating. Prolonged exposure to the fumes creates a build-up of toxins and causes illness. Other chores include peeling garlic, assembling boxes, and packing ice cream sticks. There is also a pharmaceutical factory in another building. People work until 9 p.m. daily and sometimes until 11 p.m. or midnight when there is a lot of work to be done.

To get to each cell, one enters through a big metal door with stainless steel bars leading to a corridor. During the day, a "team of guardians" guards this door. Eleven people from each brigade act as the "team of guardians." The door is locked at night, after the head of the brigade, the head on duty and the "team of guardians" account for everyone. At midnight, the head will come and check again.

On the west side of the first floor, there is a materials and finished products storeroom. Several rooms were formerly used as a pharmaceutical factory where they produced a medicine called "Iron Bones." The raw materials used were calcium lactate and powdered milk, and the product was labeled: "No. 227 Huigong Square, Shenyang City." During festivals, production demands increased. In the factory, elderly ladies over 60 years old packaged drugs the entire day. Their backs hurt when they returned to their cells at night. At the end of 2003, the pharmaceutical factory suddenly stopped production. The equipment, however, is still there.

On the east side of the first floor, there is another big metal door with stainless steel bars at the entrance of the corridor. Inside are practitioners under strict discipline, pulled from each brigade. After they had been detained by the strict discipline team for three months, their prison terms were extended for one month. They were fed pickles and rice flour pancakes, which were bitter and hot. Their visiting rights were also taken away. There are many rules, which, if broken, result in an extension of the practitioner's sentence. Once a practitioner's term is extended for a year, they will be sentenced to prison.

In 2003, Dabei Jail was moved to Masanjia. The central government allocated one hundred million yuan (1) to Liaoning Province to build a large jail on the northeast side of Masanjia Forced Labour Camp.

Before the end of 2002, each practitioner had to wear a tag with "Liaoning Province Masanjia Forced Labour Camp" printed on it. Since January 2003, the tags have read "Liaoning Province Mental Education School."

2. Masanjia Forced Labour Camp Brutally Persecutes Practitioners Mentally

Falun Gong practitioners who are sent to Masanjia from other detention or brainwashing centres are immediately surrounded by "collaborators" (2), who attempt to deceive them and force them to renounce Falun Gong. Such barrage is relentless and is made in classrooms, in the activity room, in the cafeteria, and when practitioners refuse to be "transformed." During these "transformation" attempts, the guards reveal their evil nature. They torture practitioners most often in the stairways, corridors, staff room, closets, the storeroom (a triangular room with only a door and no windows), the toilets, storage rooms, the so-called "Psychological Consultation Rooms," the "Psychological Healing Centre" and other places where they can be unobserved.

Practitioners' belongings and daily necessities brought by family members are searched thoroughly, without the practitioners being present. This way, the guards can steal anything without being caught. They even ripped apart a quilt to see if Teacher's articles were hidden inside. When family members visited, their personal belongings were also inspected. The guards often went into the cells to do a bag and body-search. Searches were most often done after lunch. Practitioners were not allowed to walk around in the cafeteria. After the cells were searched, they were taken back to their cells. Before they entered through the big metal door, several policemen body-searched everyone. The police also searched people before they were released, to make sure they did not take out any letters, notes from the classes, diaries, messages or telephone numbers.

The policemen tried to brainwash practitioners by forcing them to watch video recordings of CCTV's "Focus Talk Show" that slandered Falun Gong. They forced practitioners to study the writings of Marx, Lenin and Mao. Practitioners were not allowed to study Falun Gong books or practise the exercises. They also were not allowed to sit on the bed (to prevent them from doing the sitting meditation). During the fall corn harvest, a practitioner sat on the corn stalks with her legs crossed like everyone else to rest at lunchtime. The police noticed her and kicked her until she uncrossed her legs. Then the police questioned her supervisor, "Why didn't you watch her?" Back in the cell, one practitioner could not sit on the plastic stool because she was exhausted. Instead, she sat on the ground with her legs crossed to do the work. After she finished work at 9 p.m., the guards punished her by not allowing her to go to sleep. She was dragged to a classroom and forced to sit on a small plastic stool for the entire night.

Several people were assigned to supervise the steadfast practitioners at all times, whether they were walking, using the toilet, washing themselves, eating or working. Collaborators cruelly beat and insulted practitioners. Whenever they heard practitioners shout, "Falun Dafa is great!" they immediately ran towards them, pushed them to the floor, covered their mouths, pinched their noses and choked them. They tried everything to stop the practitioners from exercising their freedom of belief. Practitioner Huang Zhenxia, 65 years old, was tortured until her face was bruised and swollen for a long time.

Wang Guixin, who supervised practitioners, had a one-centimeter mark on her neck. The police brought her around to every cell and claimed that Falun Gong practitioner Wang Renqiu had struck her. They made a video of Wang Guixin. In fact, Wang Guixin and others often tortured Wang Renqiu because she shouted, "Falun Dafa is great!" They ruthlessly pushed Wang Renqiu down, covered her mouth, pinched her nose, and choked her. The police often forced Wang Renqiu to stand in a cold draft during the winter. They subjected her to icy air for two days. Those assigned to supervise Ms. Wang during this time only stayed around for a short period of time and wore warm clothing and hats. Wang Renqiu only wore a sweater and had no hat.

Labour Camp Director Su Jing often invited people from the outside to write slanderous reports about Falun Gong. On March 5, 2004, Su Jing brought Cui Yajuan from Fushun to talk about how she organized the brainwashing programmes at Fushun and brutally persecuted 104 practitioners who remained steadfast even after suffering torture in the forced labour camp. The whole presentation was very sadistic.

3. Masanjia Forced Labour Camp Staff Brutally Tortures Practitioners

A police officer said, while cruelly torturing Falun Gong practitioners, "It doesn't matter if two die, we have a death quota."

The torture of practitioners was always worse every December. Police officers and guards from every forced labour camp that persecutes Falun Gong in the province were transferred to Masanjia in December (the so-called "Brainwashing Assistance Group"). The Liaoning Province Justice Bureau and the Reeducation Through Forced Labour Bureau also published two booklets. The one with a yellow cover defames Falun Gong, and many are kept in each cell. The white covered booklet is for teaching the guards persecution methods to be used on practitioners. The guards study this booklet while getting hands-on experience in persecuting practitioners.

They arrived every December 1st at Masanjia and lived on the third floor of the No. 2 Women's Ward Comprehensive building for a month. They met with practitioners one-to-one for torture. They intended to "transform" them by any means available to them. Before leaving, the "Brainwashing Assistance Group" had an extravagant meal, including drinks. They departed from Masanjia before New Year's Day. During this time, Masanjia does not allow visiting family members to sleep over. Practitioners do not do any labour. Instead, the perpetrators torture several hundred practitioners day and night. They try to force practitioners to write the "Guarantee Statement," stating that they renounce Falun Gong. These brutal sessions are called, "offering love to rescue our sisters" and a "love salvation activity." Under the command of police officers, the guards and collaborators persecute practitioners day and night. At the No. 2 Women's Ward of Masanjia Forced Labor Camp, besides the 48 cells for sleeping, all the rooms, cafeteria, comprehensive building, storerooms, storage rooms, toilets, pharmaceutical factory, and all the stairways are lit up all night long so they can continuously torment practitioners.

Persecution Methods Used at Masanjia

1) Standing for a long time: Practitioners are forced to stand with their eyes open. The "Brainwashing Assistance Group" also forces practitioners to watch slanderous videos at the same time.

2) Squatting: Practitioners are forced to squat for a long time and are only allowed to use the toilet every 12 hours. If the practitioner can't squat any longer and falls down, she will be beaten, kicked, and her hair will be pulled until she gets up. Squatting for long hours causes the lower limbs to turn purple black and sometimes to hemorrhage, and the practitioner is unable to stand up normally afterwards. Practitioner Yang Guilan, 63 years old, could not bear it any longer and fell down. The vicious people shouted and screamed at her. She struggled to get up. Ms. Yang had to squat for a long period and became very gaunt. Then she was handcuffed to the bedrail for a long time. Her legs were disabled for more than a year. Practitioner Liu Baoqiu was also forced to squat for a long time and became disabled.

3) Tying the four limbs: Practitioners are forced to sit with both legs crossed, then their hands, arms, feet and legs are all tied up with ropes for at least several days and nights. Some people lose consciousness from the pain. Practitioner Pan Jing from Dandong was tied up and forced to squat. As a result, her legs developed big blisters five to six centimeters long and one to two centimeters wide. The blisters on her feet were even worse because she wore shoes. The puss from the blisters soaked into her pants and shoes. By that time, Ms. Pan was close to the end of her endurance. Her face was pale and she kept falling over, but police officer Zhang Huan still forced her to squat. Afterwards, Pan Jing's legs were disabled.

At the end of 2002, Zhang Huan dragged practitioners Pan Jing and Wang Wenjuan from the cell and tortured them. They were in good shape before being tortured, but afterwards, their faces had turned sallow, and their bodies were bruised and in terrible condition. At the end of 2003, Zhang Huan again tortured both of these practitioners. Pan Jing was taken to the first floor for persecution, and her legs have been disabled for more than two years.

Practitioner Wen Lijie was persecuted many times. The longest time that she was forced to sit on a small plastic stool was 61 days. On February 9, 2003, Ms. Wen was forced to sit with both legs crossed and was tied up with ropes until she lost consciousness from the pain. She was taken to the hospital for emergency treatment, and then she was again forced to sit on a plastic stool until April. Wen Lijie's legs were also disabled for more than a year. In Masanjia, at mealtime, there are groups of disabled people from each brigade. After December, there are many more who have been tortured into disability as a result of forcing practitioners to squat and being tied up. Some people's joints are injured to the extent that they bleed profusely around the joints, have fluid in the joints, their legs are swollen for a very long time, and some have even become disabled.

4) Raising the hands: Practitioners are forced to hold their hands above their heads and are not allowed to rest. The guards hit practitioners' arms with a wooden stick if they drop them down. The "Brainwashing Assistance Group" from Jinzhou Forced Labour Camp put safety helmets on the practitioners and handcuffed their hands above their heads.

5) Handcuffing: Practitioners are handcuffed to the bedrails and heating pipes for several days and nights, and deprived of sleep.

6) "Riding an Airplane": The head is bent down until it cannot go down any further, while the hands are pulled up and held up to the highest point.

7) Forced-feeding: Practitioners who go on hunger strikes to protest the illegal detention and abuse are cruelly force-fed. Sometimes one sees labour camp staff coming from the cafeteria with many small containers of corn flour gruel. During the forced feeding, several people hold down the practitioner's head, feet and arms and insert the tube for force-feeding. It is rumored that practitioners are changed 30 to 40 yuan for every forced-feeding. Zhang Guixia was on a hunger strike for a very long time. Because she did not stop her hunger strike, they hung her up by her arms for a long time.

8) Electric shock: Many practitioners have been tortured with electric batons, sometimes with several electric batons at the same time.

9) Iron chair: Many detention centres and jails have used this torture on practitioners. It is said that no one can suffer this torture for more than ten days. After ten days, the victim becomes disabled. Practitioner Xia Ning was subjected to this torture and developed huge boils on her buttocks. The puss drained and left big holes in her flesh. She could not use the toilet because the wounds from the boils were very painful. Practitioner Wang Xueli's feet were so swollen that she could not wear shoes. She could not even wear socks in winter and had to walk barefoot.

10) Violent beatings: The Direct Subordinate Unit is the most ruthless team in beating people. They often and indiscriminately beat practitioners. The sound of beatings can be heard even in far-off corridors. Collaborator Wang Yuwei beats and verbally abuses practitioners. Someone has witnessed that staff from the Direct Subordinate Unit will beat a practitioner until she loses consciousness. Li Yanling from Benxi said that a woman over 50 years old was sent to the hospital and died after being beaten. It was said that she died from a cerebral hemorrhage.

In early November 2003, Masanjia stopped the slave labour work a month earlier than they had in prior years. Director Su Jing ordered another round of forced transformations. Su Jing, Commissar Wang Naimin, Deputy Director Zhang and Wang all were given a quota for transforming Falun Gong practitioners. Su Jing and Wang Naimin took the practitioners under their supervision to the Direct Subordinate Unit for violent beatings.

Practitioners from the No. 3 Brigade were taken to the Direct Subordinate Unit one by one, and tortured for more than 20 days. The police beat them with wooden boards two feet long and an inch and a half wide. They only struck practitioners where the wounds could not be seen, such as where their clothes and hair would cover the marks of the beatings. The practitioners' bodies were black and blue, and their heads were swollen. Huang Zhenxia's entire left side was black and blue from the beatings.

People in the Direct Subordinate Unit and the No. 2 Brigade all could sleep in their beds, while the Falun Gong practitioners were only allowed to sleep on the desks and chairs in the classroom after midnight. They were awakened at 4 a.m. When they went to the toilet, the inmates assigned to monitor them followed. When these prisoners saw the bruises on the practitioners' bodies, they burst into tears. It was rumoured that a practitioner under heavy discipline on the first floor had one of her nipples bitten, and the guards viciously claimed that she did it to herself. The guards in Masanjia often slander practitioners, claiming that they injured themselves and are themselves responsible for becoming disabled.

Every December, when the "Brainwashing Assistance Group" arrives at Masanjia, the torture of practitioners accelerates. Practitioners suffer the most inhuman persecution at Masanjia during this period. In the "Brainwashing Assistance Group," the guards torment practitioners one by one and change shifts every two hours. They use all sorts of tortures to force practitioners to write the "Guarantee Statement." These tortures are done in secret. Many practitioners have suffered mental collapse from the persecution. Practitioners were often persecuted until they lost control of their bowels and bladder. Many guards said, "This place is called 'Living Hell.'"

These examples are only a small fraction of the inhumanity and cruelty towards Falun Gong practitioners that takes place in Masanjia Forced Labour Camp. The persecution in Masanjia has not come to an end. Many practitioners are still being detained beyond their terms. Practitioners are still being arrested and sent to Masanjia.

During the United Nations Human Rights Congress, the Chinese Communist Party reported that "98% of Falun Gong practitioners have been transformed" and "The good influence of education is responsible [for the "transformations"]." These statements are blatant lies.

We hope that all kind-hearted people worldwide will take notice of the criminal persecution at Masanjia. We hope that they realize that this persecution still continues throughout China. We believe that together we can stop this persecution of kind people who believe in "Truthfulness, Compassion, Forbearance."

No. 2 Women's Ward of Masanjia Forced Labour Camp
Switchboard: 86-24-89210074
Director: Su Jing
Commissar: Wang Naimin
No. 1 Brigade: 86-24-89210406
Head of the No. 1 Brigade: Wang Xiaofeng
Associate Head: Wang Shuzheng

No. 2 Brigade: 86-24-89240074
Head of the No. 1 Brigade: Zhang Xiurong, Zhou Qian

No. 3 Brigade: 86-24-89212252
Head of the No. 3 of Brigade: Li Mingyu
Associated Head of the No. 3 Brigade: Xiang

Note:

(1) "Yuan" is the Chinese currency; 500 yuan is equal to the average monthly income of an urban worker in China.

(2) "Collaborators": Former practitioners who have turned against Falun Gong under brainwashing and torture. They are then made to assist in brainwashing and torturing practitioners.

Chinese version available at http://minghui.org/mh/articles/2005/2/3/94768.html